SUMMARY:One of the newest Star Wars games to hit consoles, Lego Star Wars takes a totally different take on the Star Wars prequel trilogy...not because you get to play as characters from the films, but you play in a world where virtually everything is made of Legos.

The graphics are simple but clean. Since everything looks like it is made entirely of Lego blocks, the characters & environments don't show a high level of detail, but it's good enough to look like a good representation of the Lego product. The frame rate is smooth but does suffer some slowdown when a lot of characters are together on screen at the same time. Sounds are solid but limited primarily to music from the movies, authentic sound effects, and extremely limited voices-mostly groaning & whining when you fall apart and a few "Uh ohs" and "roger rogers" form the Battle Droids. Controls are relatively simple and easy to pick up but feel a little sluggish. The game helps you out at times with the more complex commands but when you actually do them, character movement is a bit stiff and some tasks, like double-jumping, fail due to unresponsiveness during button inputs. Gameplay is simple but stays faithful to the Star Wars films-most of the game is basic action/platform gameplay but there is also a podracing stage and a couple of stages where you get to fly spaceships-one if done in the 3D behind-ship style, and another has a diagonal view very much like the classic 80s shooter "Zaxxon". Both of these, while short, help add variety to the experience. There are lots of characters to unlock and play as, and hidden easter eggs/cheats mix up the gameplay and add even more fun by allowing you to do things like have silly blasters, large mustaches, and other funny things. While there are roughly 15 stages in the game, they're all fairly short and easy to clear...the biggest complaint here is with the exception of one hidden stage set in Episode 4, you can only play through Episodes 1, 2, & 3. That will be fine for some fans, but a lot of people will be disappointed that they can't play through the entire movie saga. And the game is very short too-you can easily finish the entire game in less than 10 hours, although by trying to unlock everything you can get a couple more hours out of it.Multiplayer is available for 2 players, and one very unique feature was added for it: At anytime during gameplay, when one person is playing, a 2nd player can plug in a controller and join in right away, and also one player in a 2-player game can leave at anytime while the other one keeps going! This is a great concept that works well for times when someone wants to play with another player, but for only a short time. Then they can "drop out" of the game while the other player keeps going without losing any progress.

Although the game is too short and lacks long-term replay value, it's very hard not to enjoy a game like this. It's one of the most unique concepts in some time and sill remains true to the Star Wars universe, and it's also extremely fun to play between exploring and being able to destroy just about everything. Even if you're not a Star Wars fan this is definitely worth at least an extended rental, if only because it may not be long or deep enough to warrant a purchase at $30 or $40, as good a game as it is.